More than 633,000 Harris County households rely on free school breakfast and lunches, and when the final bell rings at most Houston-area campuses this week, some kids and teens will go home to empty cupboards.
The Houston Food Bank is again launching its no-cost Summer Food Service Program, set to begin June 8 and run through August 7, serving children ages 1 to 18 and students with disabilities up to age 21.
Those who want to participate are encouraged to find a “congregate” feeding site near their home by plugging in their ZIP code to an interactive map. Days and hours of operation vary by site. Houston Food Bank prepares nutritious hot meals with fresh produce daily and distributes them to more than 150 sites.
About 1 million meals and 306,295 snacks were served through the food bank’s Kids Cafe last year. It’s a year-round initiative that provides after-school snacks and meals during the school year but pivots in the summer to provide breakfast and lunch options and pick up the slack for school district feeding programs that typically expire when summer school ends.
Houston Food Bank Senior Director of Programs Melanie McGuire said the congregate food distribution program, administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture, doesn’t require identification but food is served only to children and they have to eat on site.
“You don’t have to necessarily be enrolled in a program. A lot of the sites have open feeding times,” McGuire said. “Generally, we’ll have some type of enrichment activity while the kids are eating to keep them occupied.”
Brian Greene, president and CEO of Houston Food Bank, said in a statement that one in five children in the nonprofit’s 18-county service area experiences food insecurity, meaning they don’t have consistent access to nutritious meals.
In addition to the congregate sites, the food bank is adding 10 “noncongregate” spaces rural areas this year. At those locations, which haven’t been announced yet, children can take meals home. The program is projected to serve 12,000 “grab and go” meals, including breakfasts, lunches and snacks, daily throughout the summer. The meals are provided in five-day bundles and those sites will be added to the interactive map once the school districts in those rural areas are no longer providing meals.
“It’s kind of a rolling admission,” McGuire said. “We have school districts that will finish their programs and then we will be their provider.”
The food bank aims to offer lots of options, including a hub site in Liberty County, to reduce the number of families facing food insecurity over the summer.
“We hope that operating summer food service models such as [noncongregate sites] will increase access to families who may face barriers in trying to reach congregate feeding sites on a daily basis,” Houston Food Bank officials said in a press release, noting that noncongregate sites may require a parent or guardian to provide proof of school enrollment if picking up meals without their children present. Report cards, school enrollment letters or birth certificates will suffice.
Families who have questions about the feeding sites can email kidscafe@houstonfoodbank.org, call the Houston Food Bank at 713-223-3700 or call 211 to speak to a live operator.
Houston ISD’s summer meal program offers free breakfast and lunch to children under 18 years old, regardless of summer school enrollment. The program runs from June 10 through July 17 at participating locations. No registration or ID is required. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m., and lunch is from 11 to 11:30 a.m., although times may vary by campus. There is no service on June 19, July 2 and July 3.
YES Prep charter campuses are also serving free meals to any child in the community under age 18 and people with disabilities up to age 21. The program began on June 2 and continues through June 26. Meals will be served in the cafeterias of participating YES Prep campuses and will include breakfast and lunch. Serving times vary by campus, so participants are encouraged to check the website for more information.
McGuire said the summer feeding programs are vitally important as federal funding cuts have caused more families to re-evaluate their household budgets. Even though summer feeding is only for school-age children, many of the congregate sites are near food pantries, where parents can pick up groceries for the week.
“The goal is, hopefully, you can find a site where the kids can have a meal and then pick up groceries for the household at a location nearby,” McGuire said. “We’ve had a really strong demand from organizations that are looking to provide meal programs, so my assumption is that they’re hearing that households are pretty strapped this summer. Expenses are high. Most of the time, school lunch programs tend to fill that gap for families during the school year. When summer comes, it can be difficult. We’ve also heard there’s a lack of awareness that families can access these programs.”
For those who want to help, cash and non-perishables go a long way but the Houston Food Bank also needs volunteers, not just for the summer feeding program but to prepare boxes for families during hurricane season, McGuire said.
“There are numerous ways to volunteer,” she said. “We take all ages so they can come as a family or with a church group or organization. They have a great time. It’s so rewarding to be able to prepare a meal for someone. We certainly love donations but to be able to cook a meal that you know is going straight into the hands of kids is a great feeling.”
